Manganiyar magic

By Dhara Vora |Posted 25-Jun-2014

The Kutle Khan Project featuring talented Rajasthani Folk musician Kutle Khan along with four artistes in his troupe, will be presenting contemporary Rajasthani Folk music as a solo act for the first time in Mumbai

The deserts of Rajasthan are rich in various forms of art and one of the gems are the Manganiyar Folk musicians who produce tunes that are foot-tapping and delve in Indian Classical music at the same time. And one name that has garnered international acclaim for understanding the versatility of Rajasthani Folk music is Kutle Khan. “Our music is such that be it Jazz or Rap, it will fit in and give wonderful results,” says Khan who along with his troupe is known as The Kutle Khan Project.

Kutle Khan (third from left) with the other members of The Kutle Khan Project

Like he says, Khan has performed with a variety of artistes of different genres of music (he has been learning music since the age of two and has been performing since he was 10 years old) be it singer Susheela Raman, duo Midival Punditz, or musician Karsh Kale. This week though, it will be the troupe’s first solo performance (that is without a collaboration with any other artiste) in Mumbai, that too in a new avatar. Khan, who is a singer, composer, as well as an instrumentalist, has worked on new compositions and has come up with a repertoire of Folk tunes that have a contemporary arrangement.

Khan shares, “I have changed the raga of the songs such that they feel different. These include new compositions and the traditional Folk music that the seven generations of my family have been performing — both have been tweaked.” Considering his flexible compositions, Khan is also working on an international album in collaboration with the music project, Mexican Institute of Sound, which will also include artistes such as Ed O’Brien from Radiohead.